American Flowers Week 2017

American Flowers Week 2017       It's Here! The 3rd Annual American Flowers Week - June 28-July 4       Are you Joining the Campaign? Participating in American Flowers Week is easy -- and really doesn't cost a penny! Here are 5 Actions you can take to promote yourself, your flowers and your community beginning today through July 4th: Use the #AmericanFlowersWeek hashtag on your social posts -- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest. Share images of your flowers today and every day of the campaign. The goal is to get American grown flowers trending!  Create Community -- Throw an American Flowers Week party! People across the country are gathering with fellow flower farmers and floral designers to play with flowers. See links below for inspiration -- it's easy and who doesn't want to experience seasonal and local blooms?! Take advantage of all our FREE resources. This year, we have social media badges galore. You can download these badges to use in your own promotional activities. Show Your Colors! And don't forget to download our USA Map of State Flowers, as well as your individual state flower page, and channel your inner artist.Coloring is a major stress-buster, did you know? Use our state flower graphics as bonus hand-outs to share with customers and clients, too!         What's American Flowers Week?       AFW is a week-long celebration of domestic flowers designed to raise consumer awareness and unite America’s flower farmers with the U.S. floral industry.  According to founder Debra Prinzing, "clearly, we’re at a new normal where consumers are highly conscious of the origins of the goods they purchase, and this is more evident in the floral industry than ever before. The Slow Flowers community of growers and designers believe it's important to raise awareness and celebrate local and domestic flowers with a new American floral holiday.”     Click here to learn more about American Flowers Week►   Here's What's Going On Around the Country     Earlier this week, the Hudson Valley Flower Growers held their first Farmer & Florist party, aka an "Arranging Soiree" (top image), inspired by last year's SC Upstate Flowers' American Flowers Week Party.  Continuing their flower fete tradition, SC Upstate Flowers just held its 2nd annual AFW gathering last week (bottom image), inviting florists to join them for an evening of networking, arranging with fresh, local & seasonal South Carolina-grown blooms, and refreshments. Talk about a great way to create community!       Click here to read about SC Upstate Flowers' 2016 party► Click here to read our American Flowers Week story in Growing for Market►     For the 3rd year in a row, our great friends at Farmgirl Flowers created a very special American Flowers Week bouquet with all local blooms. And this year, they've added a delicious Apple Pie to the package! What's more American than Apple Pie and Local Flowers?!     Click here to order your FGF bouquet + pie►     Our friends at Longfield Gardens, a Slow Flowers sponsor, are staging an #americanflowersweek Photo Contest -- what more incentive do you need to snap and share your floral pride?! In honor of American Flowers Week, Longfield is giving away a $100 gift certificate to one lucky winner, drawn from entries through July 4th! Local Flowers for the WIN!     Click here for Longfield Gardens' contest details ►     Label your Flowers! We've sold out of 2017 bouquet labels, but you can gain inspiration from the packaging ideas shown here.  Libby Francis of The Modest Florist in Baltimore, Maryland, made her own labels with the American Flowers Week logo to add to her Mason Jar bouquets (top) while Christine Hoffman of Foxglove Market and The Twin Cities Flower Exchange added labels to her local bouquets.     Click here to download American Flowers Week logos & graphics ►     Share the LOCAL Flower Love and post something special to honor American Flowers Week, like this beautiful floral heart created by our friend Hillary Alger of Johnny's Selected Seeds, a Slow Flowers sponsor.    Click here to order your cutting garden seeds from Johnny's ►     Share images of local flowers with your message of support to highlight American Flowers Week with your community, like Slow Flowers member Nan Mattson of Queen City Flower Farm (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Kelly Perry of Team Flower (Boone, N.C.)         Capture attention for American Flowers Week like these Slow Flowers Friends: Teresa Sabankaya of Bonny Doon Garden Co. in Santa Cruz, California hangs a poster of the beautiful "rose tutu" she created for our American Flowers Week wearable floral fashion series (top image); Jenny Diaz, our awesome graphic designer and illustrator for all things Slow Flowers, colored her home state's flora map with a classic California poppy palette (middle image); Elizabeth Fox of Bluegreen Gardens in Lancaster, Ohio, created a special American Flowers Week CSA offer for her clients (bottom image), which we LOVE!       ARE YOU COMING to the Slow Flowers SUMMIT?     Slow Flowers SUMMIT presenters include, left to right: Top row: Teresa Sabankaya, Chantal Aida-Gordon, Amy Stewart; Middle row: Emily Ellen Anderson, James Baggett, Leslie Bennett; Bottom row: Lisa Waud, Nicole Cordier Wahlquist, Riz Reyes       10 Great Reasons to Attend the Slow Flowers SUMMIT 1. It takes place during the heart of American Flowers Week 2. It opens your mind to new ideas, attitudes and provocative thinking 3. It introduces you to inspiring and fresh voices and concepts in the progressive Slow Flowers community 4. It connects you with a talented network of Slow Flowers designers and growers -- doers and thinkers like you! 5. It highlights new channels for domestic flower sourcing and  eco/sustainable design 6. It challenges you to rethink tired approaches and try something new 7. It gives you updated language to describe your brand and mission 8. It feeds your creativity (plus your palate -- we'll have great eats, drinks and a signature 'Wicked Plants' cocktail from Amy Stewart) 9. It sends you home with a flower-lover's swag bag of cool stuff 10. It puts you at the vortex of the Slow Flowers Movement     Click here to secure your ticket today! ►   What else to do in SEATTLE? Learn a new Skill!     Learn How to Make Natural Pigments to Dye Silk Ribbons & Linens  Sign up for The Art of Dyeing with Susanna Luck of Nettle Textiles Saturday, July 1st, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Seattle Wholesale Growers Market Susanna Luck of Nettle Textiles is a Portland-based floral designer and textile artist. Learn her recipes and techniques for custom-dyeing beautiful and naturally-hued ribbons and table linens that add a luxe, lustrous element to bouquets and events. Registration: $260 + $75 materials fee (includes all supplies, fabrics, recipes and LUNCH)     Click here for details & registration ►     More campaign graphics for American Flowers Week 2017!  Last month we unveiled the stunning All-American Sunflower gown created by Seattle designer Amy Kunkel-Patterson of Gather Design Co. that incorporates locally-grown Pacific Northwest sunflowers, rudbeckia, amaranth and ornamental grasses (top left). Now there's more to post and share! Presenting three more amazing creations from Slowflowers.com member designers and flower farmers, clockwise from top right: Menswear vest, created by Riz Reyes of RHR Horticulture with foraged Northwest ingredients and product sourced at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market (c) Mary Grace Long Photography Floral cape, created by Tara Folker of Splints & Daisies with flowering bulbs and foliage donated by Stargazer Barn (c) With Love & Embers Photography Rose tutu, created by Teresa Sabankaya of Bonnie Doon Garden Co., with her own garden flowers and roses from California Pajarosa (c) John Kaemmerling Photography     Click here to download more American Flowers Week graphics ► Click here to Create Your SLOWFLOWERS.COM Listing►

Christina Burton-Fox AIFD floral artist & instructor